The predominant alkaloid found in commercial tobacco varieties is nicotine, typically accounting for 90-95% of the total alkaloid pool. The remaining alkaloid fraction is comprised primarily of three additional pyridine alkaloids: nornicotine, anabasine, and anatabine. Nornicotine is generated directly from nicotine through the activity of the enzyme nicotine N-demethylase (FIG. 1). Nornicotine usually represents less than 5% of the total pyridine alkaloid pool, but through a process termed “conversion,” tobacco plants that initially produce very low amounts of nornicotine give rise to progeny that metabolically “convert” a large percentage of leaf nicotine to nornicotine. In tobacco plants that have genetically converted (termed “converters”), the great majority of nornicotine production occurs during the senescence and curing of the mature leaf (Wernsman and Matzinger (1968) Tob. Sci. 12:226-228). Burley tobaccos are particularly prone to genetic conversion, with rates as high as 20% per generation observed in some cultivars.
During the curing and processing of the tobacco leaf, a portion of the nornicotine is metabolized to the compound N′-nitrosonornicotine (NNN; FIG. 1), a tobacco-specific nitrosamine (TSNA) that has been shown to be carcinogenic in laboratory animals (Hecht and Hoffmann (1990) Cancer Surveys 8:273-294; Hoffmann et al. (1994) J. Toxicol. Environ. Health 41:1-52; Hecht (1998) Chem. Res. Toxicol. 11:559-603). In flue-cured tobaccos, TSNAs were found to be predominantly formed through the reaction of alkaloids with the minute amounts of nitrogen oxides present in combustion gases formed by the direct-fired heating systems found in traditional curing barns (Peele and Gentry (1999) “Formation of Tobacco-specific Nitrosamines in Flue-cured Tobacco,” CORESTA Meeting, Agro-Phyto Groups, Suzhou, China). Retrofitting these curing barns with heat-exchangers virtually eliminated the mixing of combustion gases with the curing air and dramatically reduced the formation of TSNAs in tobaccos cured in this manner (Boyette and Hamm (2001) Rec. Adv. Tob. Sci. 27:17-22). In contrast, in the air-cured Burley tobaccos, TSNA formation proceeds primarily through reaction of tobacco alkaloids with nitrite, a process catalyzed by leaf-borne microbes (Bush et al. (2001) Rec. Adv. Tob. Sci. 27:23-46). Thus far, attempts to reduce TNSAs through modification of curing conditions while maintaining acceptable quality standards have not proven to be successful for the air-cured tobaccos.
In Burley tobaccos, a positive correlation has been found between the nornicotine content of the leaf and the amount of NNN that accumulates in the cured product (Bush et al. (2001) Rec. Adv. Tob. Sci. 27:23-46; Shi et al. (2000)Tob. Chem. Res. Conf. 54:Abstract 27). However, keeping nornicotine levels at a minimum has been difficult because of the conversion phenomenon that results in a continual introduction of high nornicotine-producing plants within commercially grown Burley populations. Minimizing the number of Burley plants that accumulate high levels of nornicotine has traditionally been the responsibility of plant breeders and seed producers. Though the percentage of converter plants that are ultimately grown in farmers' fields can be reduced through the roguing of converter plants during the propagation of seed stocks, this process is costly, time-consuming, and imperfect.
Previous studies have shown that once a plant has converted, the high nornicotine trait is inherited as a single dominant gene (Griffith et al. (1955) Science 121:343-344; Burk and Jeffrey (1958) Tob. Sci. 2:139-141; Mann et al. (1964) Crop Sci. 4:349-353). The nature of this gene, however, is currently unknown. In the most simple of scenarios, the conversion locus may represent a nonfunctional nicotine N-demethylase gene that regains its function in converter plants, possibly through the mobilization of a mutation-inducing transposable element. Alternatively, the converter locus may encode a protein that initiates a cascade of events that ultimately enables the plant to metabolize nicotine to nornicotine, which would mean that multiple genes may be involved.
Regardless of whether there are one or many genes associated with the conversion process, it is clear that the gene(s) encoding polypeptides having nicotine demethylase activity play a pivotal role in this process. Although the inability to purify active nicotine N-demethylase from crude extracts has impeded the isolation and identification of this enzyme, there is some evidence that a member of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of monooxygenases may be involved (Hao and Yeoman (1996) Phytochem. 41:477-482; Hao and Yeoman (1996) Phytochem. 42:325-329; Chelvarajan et al. (1993) J. Agric. Food Chem. 41:858-862; Hao and Yeoman (1998) J Plant Physiol. 152:420-426). However, these studies are not conclusive, as the classic P450 inhibitors carbon monoxide and tetcylasis have failed to lower enzyme activity at rates comparable to other reported P450-mediated reactions (Chelvarajan et al. (1993) J. Agric. Food Chem. 41:858-862).
Furthermore, the cytochrome P450s are ubiquitous, transmembrane proteins that participate in the metabolism of a wide range of compounds (reviewed by Schuler (1996) Crit. Rev. Plant Sci. 15:235-284; Schuler and Werck-Reichhart (2003) Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 54:629-667). Examples of biochemical reactions mediated by cytochrome P450s include hydroxylations, demethylations, and epoxidations. In plants, the cytochrome P450 gene families are very large. For example, total genome sequence examination has revealed 272 predicted cytochrome P450 genes in Arabidopsis and at least 455 unique cytochrome P450 genes in rice (see, for example, Nelson et al. (2004) Plant Physiol. 135(2):756-772). Even though cytochrome P450 has been implicated as having a role in the metabolic conversion of nicotine to nornicotine, identification of key participating members of this protein family remains a challenge.
Aside from serving as a precursor for NNN, recent studies suggest that the nornicotine found in tobacco products may have additional undesirable health consequences. Dickerson and Janda demonstrated that nornicotine causes aberrant protein glycation within the cell (Dickerson and Janda (2002) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:15084-15088). Concentrations of nornicotine-modified proteins were found to be much higher in the plasma of smokers compared to nonsmokers. Furthermore, this same study showed that nornicotine can covalently modify commonly prescribed steroid drugs such as prednisone. Such modifications have the potential of altering both the efficacy and toxicity of these drugs.
In view of the difficulties associated with conversion and the undesirable health effects of nornicotine accumulation, improved methods for reducing the nornicotine content in tobacco varieties, particularly Burley tobacco, are therefore desirable. Such methods would not only help ameliorate the potential negative health consequences of the nornicotine per se as described above, but should also concomitantly reduce NNN levels.